Today's readings are 1 Kings 1.1-4 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Kings+1.1-4 ), 1 Kings 1.15-35 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Kings+1.15-35 ), and 1 Corinthians 12.14-31 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Cor.+12.14-31 ).
When I was a young Christian I was involved in a church body which emphasized the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially as listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. If God was working in your life you would see miraculous gifts happening. Sadly, we often overlooked a facet of the Lord's supernatural life described in the beginning of today's reading from 1 Corinthians 12. That's the way the Lord puts his people together to be one body, functioning as a healthy entity.
See how important the body is to God? Not only do we see that the Lord has created a very physical earth, he has also revealed himself in bodily form through Jesus Christ and he has promised a future bodily resurrection. The body matters. And we are all aware, literally we are painfully aware of the suffering our bodies endure when one seemingly insignificant part hurts. Have you ever broken a toe? You never knew you used that foot that much. How about a middle ear infection? Hurts, doesn't it? Know how big your middle ear is? I don't. But it's quite small. And why is it that I manage to get a blistering sunburn right on the part of my nose where my glasses sit? Or the cut on the hand is right where it hurts the most. How about an appendix, an organ we hardly seem to use for anything, and quite small. What happens when it swells or even ruptures? In fact, those little body parts are extraordinarily important. And when they hurt, everything hurts. Likewise, when they are well, things seem to go along pretty nicely.
Likewise in the body of Christ. All these gifts God gives are for the nourishment of his body. And there are many members of the body we could have a tendency to bypass or ignore. They don't seem as significant to us. But they are significant. And I've got news for some of us. Some of those little body parts, the really important ones that we hardly ever notice, are weak, sick, in pain, and we haven't noticed. Like the person who feels generally lethargic because a little bitty gland is malfunctioning, we find that Christ's Church is lethargic. Time to quit trying to take extra naps for recovery. Time to start looking for parts of the body which are in need of healing, encouragement, nourishment.
Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep. Paul reminds the Corinthians that all the members of the body are important. But we have ignored those in need. We have dishonored the weak and insignificant ones for whom Christ also died. Let us rather bring the message of the Gospel to everybody. Let us serve as ministers of healing and forgiveness for all, including the least of these little children, including the last to arrive on the scene, including the losers of this world. Christ came to seek and to save the lost. Let us reflect that seeking and saving work as we savor the work of the Savior.
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